Patent ductus arteriosus in preterm infants: benefits of early surgical closure.

Background: Patent ductus arteriosus in preterm neonates leads to significant morbidity. Surgery is indicated when pharmacological treatment fails or is contraindicated, but the optimal timing remains unclear.

Methods: We retrospectively studied all 41 preterm neonates with symptomatic ductus arteriosus who underwent ligation between 1988 and 2009.

Left ventricular and mitral valve function long after repair of left anomalous coronary artery from the pulmonary artery: recovery years after severe ischemia.

Background: The study evaluates the long-term results of surgery for anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) with special attention on the left ventricular (LV) function and mitral regurgitation.

Methods: Twenty-one children underwent surgery for ALCAPA over 23 years (1987-2010). All patients underwent establishment of a two-coronary system, by direct reimplantation (n = 13) or by intrapulmonary tunnel technique (n = 8), with concomitant mitral valve repair in one.

Inhaled nitric oxide for elevated cavopulmonary pressure and hypoxemia after cavopulmonary operations.

Background. Elevated cavopulmonary pressure early after surgical creation of cavopulmonary connections is an important hemodynamic problem with grave prognostic significance. We examined the effect of administration of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) to patients with elevated cavopulmonary pressure in the early postoperative period.